The future of business travel in Asia Pacific

The future of business travel will see web and mobile solutions helping employees be productive anywhere, at any time.

Access to such data gives companies of all sizes visibility into travel plans and updates, spend, compliance and safety for all of their travelers. Analytics and intelligent reporting are the core building blocks of travel management in the future, and integrated T&E management systems will enable companies to effectively understand and act on what they see happening around them.

Embracing Business Traveller Behaviour

More than ever, business travellers in Asia Pacific want travel to be simpler. They are chasing productivity and require solutions that help employees be productive anywhere, at any time. Credit card charges, e-receipts, invoices and itineraries are automatically captured - no matter where travel is booked.

In our mobile world, the user-driven engagement model is defined by a clear perspective - users seek the app best suited for the purpose at hand. Users are unlikely to get everything they need from one app or from one company. They will look to solve problems through a variety of apps and vendors so an ecosystem of partners needs to be built to provide greater value to customers and to make travel easy, simple and transparent, and to make it work all in real time.

With the end-user in mind, T&E technology companies have built ecosystems of integrated applications to provide users with a collection of smart apps that not only ease the pain of business travel and expense reporting, but also provide management with transparency and accuracy around T&E spend. We see the emergence of app centres built upon an open platform, some featuring more than 100 third-party specialized apps and services that provide travelers greater convenience and help organisations manage compliance, spend in an effortless way.

New Era of Business Networks

The future of business travel centers around creating a travel ecosystem that dynamically responds to the needs of business travelers, the companies that they work for and the suppliers that serve them.

In the new era, 'business networks' will help connect businesses with a broader ecosystem of tools and services. The real incredible power here is when these networks 'talk' to each and solve travel and travel-related issues automatically.

While we all hope that business travel can be fuss-free and even enjoyable, the reality is that oftentimes it's tedious and exhausting as small trivial things along the way can mar the experience. Being able to automate and simplify the process means the business traveler can stay focused on the main game - doing business.

That's what software and techology should do for all of us. That's the future that we see and that we are creating.